The Cross-Cultural Differencesof Tourists and Evaluation of Uncertainty
Abstract
The topic “cross-cultural differences in consumer behavior” has been emphasized in numerous research studies both in marketing and related specific studies like consumer decision making, complaining behavior, etc. The impact of cultures on consumer behavior is apparent in entire areas of services, particularly in travel and tourism. The decision to prefer a destination is dominated before travel. In accordance with the socio cultural properties, the prospective tourist weight the advantages and disadvantages of undertaking the travel to a specific destination. The instability of political situation and chaotic events like, terror certainly don’t pull or create any kind of attraction. Tourists with cross-cultural differences act and respond differently to the conditions. Some societies are more tolerant to uncertainty and some or not. In this article, the researcher tries to analyze this issue within the scope of Uncertainty Avoidance Index that has been studied and developed by Hofstede. Keyword: Cross-cultural difference, Uncertainty Avoidance, Before-Travel Decisions Cross-Cultural Attributes and How They Affect Travelling Tourists bearing sociocultural and psychological attributes, sustain certain beliefs and preconceived opinions about the destinations they would be travelling to. Regarding those senses and perception, they either decide upon a destination or not. After their decision to travel, during their visit as well, they develop a point of view for the destination as affirmative or negative. Tourists are enclosed by the social environment when arriving a destination. To many extents they cannot avoid contact with local residents (Fan, et al. 2017: 357). Therefore, their point of view is not only about the place but also for the residents too. Managing the cross-cultural impacts that result from tourists has involved two major approaches. One of these is to focus on the resource being visited, the supply-side approach, the other having been to concentrate on the visitor or the demand side (Garrod, 2003: quoted from Mason, 2006: 346). As Manrai & Manrai, (2011: 28) stated the tourist behaviors are classified into three overall domains: 1) Before-Travel; 2) During-Travel; and, 3) After-Travel. Next. This study concentrated on the cross-cultural attributes affecting the visitor before travel mainly concentrates on the before-travel decisions and opinions rather than the travel duration or after-travel.